The present invention relates to a cooling device with an air guide for a vehicle engine radiator and notably to a device that can incorporate a shut-off device with moving flaps.
Various cooling devices comprising moving flaps, of the venetian blind type, the closure of which is controlled so as to be able to manage CO2 emissions, are known. This is because it is known that letting air in over a front bumper impairs the aerodynamic drag coefficient SCx and therefore increases the CO2 emissions of the vehicle. Motor manufacturers have therefore sought to position moving flaps on the air circuit, but the positioning of these moving flaps presents numerous problems in the compact environment of the front end of a vehicle where there are numerous other requirements that have to be met, notably in terms of impact protection, notably pedestrian impact. Thus, a moving flap positioned in or too close to the air intake grille is unsatisfactory: there is a risk that the flap will be damaged in the slightest impact, with high replacement costs involved in the repair. A flap borne by or incorporated into the technical front panel of the vehicle presents problems of fragility and what is more does not lend itself well to a construction that is standardized across various models given that the technical front panel is very closely tied to the design of the vehicle, made entirely of sheet metal and expensive.
Document EP 2080658 discloses a radiator cooling device intended to be mounted at the front of a motor vehicle between a radiator and a bumper skin equipped with an air inlet, of the type comprising from said air inlet as far as said radiator, an air guide fixed to structural parts of the vehicle and housing a device with flaps for shutting off the air arriving at the radiator as required. According to that document, the air guide and its shut-off means are designed to contribute in the absorption of energy in the event of an impact, which they have to do given that the shut-off means are positioned more or less at the level of the air inlet made in the bumper, with nowhere to retreat to in the event of an impact. The shut-off device is incorporated into the walls of the air guide, and the latter bears against the inside of the front bumper skin and has surfaces intended, in the event of an impact, to rest on the front and on the top of the transverse impact beam that forms part of the structure of the vehicle. This construction has the disadvantage of being specifically tied to each model of vehicle and of leaving the shut-off flaps exposed to all impacts, including low-speed impacts.